PC wierdness and possible explosions. Um, help!

nige · Post by **nige** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:03 pm 0

Possibly a power supply issue, possibly the work of poltergeist - my PC has been doing some really weird stuff lately. In order of happening:

Random power-off. This happened twice, the machine decided to immediately power down with no warning. There was still power to USB devices and case lighting, but everything else powered down.

Random loss of PS/2 connectors. Both mouse and keyboard keep failing, move them to a USB port and everything starts working again.

CPU usage hits 100%. With no apps running, the CPU will suddenly max out. Taskmanager shows either svchost.exe or taskmanager.exe taking 99% of the CPU load. I have to do a power cycle to recover the machine.

Horrid clicking noises. This is a new one that happened just now. I just had the CPU max out on me when I heard a very loud clicking noise from inside the case. About once per second, "clunk clunk clunk...". I panicked, powered down, checked inside the case and found nothing wrong.

Powered up again and everything has returned to normal. Here I am, typing this to you on the same weird PC.

I'm thinking this is a PSU issue, though I could be very wrong. Any thoughts chaps?

MadHippo · Post by **MadHippo** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:08 pm 0

Either PSU, or good old fashioned over-heating.

Stevo · Post by **Stevo** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:16 pm 0

Test your memory it may be the problem

download memtest86+ from here

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Memtest86_d4226.html

peter_cushion · Post by **peter_cushion** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:17 pm 0

Sounds like a residual energy problem...

Sir_LANs-a-lot · Post by **Sir_LANs-a-lot** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:18 pm 0

Sounds like a PSU problem to me, or possibly motherboard.

TFO · Post by **TFO** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:26 pm 0

I had something similar a few years ago
Turned out that dust blown from one of the fans had created a bridge on the circuitboard - making everything hotter and hotter until the PSU couldn't cope anymore.

Mr Dom · Post by **Mr Dom** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:31 pm 0

Random shutdown (i.e. switch to power off with no BSOD) == PSU on its way out
Memory errors = blue screen (protection faults) or boot failures

PSU's are the most likely bit to fry itself on a PC anyway, so just get a new one & the problems will probably go away. If not, at least you will have a spare for when it does go

As the PSU burns itself out, the voltages on the main lines will start to waver. If one of these spikes under the secret BIOS cutoff, its auto shutdown time. A good new PSU will stay well within the ranges, but as they age they get more temperamental.

Doesnt harm to dust the insides while you have the case open either

CPU maxing to 100% - could be secret windows background tasks, speed-stepping while idle wotsits (I have that), or nefarious botnet trojans lurking in the background using your PC to send spam & host porn sites. You can always try this:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysint ... lorer.mspx
to get a better look at whats running & using what resources.

nige · Post by **nige** » Thu May 24, 2007 5:40 pm 0

Mr Dom wrote:Random shutdown (i.e. switch to power off with no BSOD) == PSU on its way out
Memory errors = blue screen (protection faults) or boot failures

PSU's are the most likely bit to fry itself on a PC anyway, so just get a new one & the problems will probably go away. If not, at least you will have a spare for when it does go

Indeed, I get no blue screen errors, it just goes straight to power off. Oh, and there's still that unidentified clunking noise.

I was thinking the PSU is to blame, which is a shame is it's a nice 500W Ultra X-connect jobbie.

Still, I could use this problem as an excuse to upgrade this four year old Athlon XP system to a better machine...

rowan · Post by **rowan** » Thu May 24, 2007 5:47 pm 0

nige wrote:I was thinking the PSU is to blame, which is a shame is it's a nice 500W Ultra X-connect jobbie.

I'd try replugging all power connections first, sometimes all the
pins don't make great contact and there's quite a bit of current being
pulled through some of them.

Purple Grapefruit · Post by **Purple Grapefruit** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:37 pm 0

My wild hypothesis is -
clunking caused by fan dieng/obstructed,
case overheats,
PSU turns off.

Or maybe it's something else or even a
combination of things that are not related
to each other.

First thing i would is whip the cover off,
turn on Pooter, try to locate the source
of the clunking sound ( a rolled up bit of
paper placed to the ear may help).

Good luck.

EDIT*you do know to be carefull what you touch in there*

Salty · Post by **Salty** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:40 pm 0

nige wrote:Still, I could use this problem as an excuse to upgrade this four year old Athlon XP system to a better machine...

You're onto a winner there.

hairy_pete · Post by **hairy_pete** » Thu May 24, 2007 9:22 pm 0

Looks like a dying power supply (the 5V branch in particular), or - popular with boards made around 2001 - bad capacitor syndrome.

Open the box, check the large capacitors around the CPU for bulging and leakage. If none found, try a new power supply.

mattley · Post by **mattley** » Thu May 24, 2007 9:35 pm 0

nige wrote:CPU usage hits 100%. With no apps running, the CPU will suddenly max out. Taskmanager shows either svchost.exe or taskmanager.exe taking 99% of the CPU load. I have to do a power cycle to recover the machine.

Get this, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysint ... lorer.mspx

It'll show you what's actually running in the svchost environment.

gilesgoat · Post by **gilesgoat** » Thu May 24, 2007 10:19 pm 0

nige wrote:
Mr Dom wrote:Random shutdown (i.e. switch to power off with no BSOD) == PSU on its way out
Memory errors = blue screen (protection faults) or boot failures

PSU's are the most likely bit to fry itself on a PC anyway, so just get a new one & the problems will probably go away. If not, at least you will have a spare for when it does go
Indeed, I get no blue screen errors, it just goes straight to power off. Oh, and there's still that unidentified clunking noise.

I was thinking the PSU is to blame, which is a shame is it's a nice 500W Ultra X-connect jobbie.

Still, I could use this problem as an excuse to upgrade this four year old Athlon XP system to a better machine...

What kind of Athlon XP is ?

If you plant to upgrade and eventually sell pieces ( I am interested in
the CPU ) please let me know

nige · Post by **nige** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 7:54 pm 0

gilesgoat wrote:
What kind of Athlon XP is ?

If you plant to upgrade and eventually sell pieces ( I am interested in
the CPU ) please let me know

It's an Athlon XP2600+ and it's yours if you want it.

With my motherboard's BIOS now reporting fluctuating system/CPU/power fan speeds of 0-9999rpm and a CPU apparently running at 0-132 deg C, I think it is time for new machine.

It'll be a month or two before I can build a new machine, but when I have finished the old CPU will be yours Giles.

YakYak

PC wierdness and possible explosions. Um, help!

PC wierdness and possible explosions. Um, help!

Re: PC wierdness and possible explosions. Um, help!